It's Cold Outside, and That's Snow Joke!

Pinhead and UU have once again come through for us with
the perfect alter ego for this time of year.

But how is Daria doing right now?



Winter Daria created by Karine Samson for CyberDaria (archived).

Chill Out!

Canadibrit's heartwarming classic tale, "A Family Holiday," begins on this day nine years ago. (Prose version here.) Just thought I'd toss that out there.

Daria and Jane at right remind us that this is the time of year to dress warmly and not go hiking in the wilderness before a blizzard. If you do, good luck. At least you were warned.

Today also marks the beginning of the ancient Roman party holiday of Saturnalia, a week-long festival that is directly to blame for the commercialization and debasement of every December holiday there is today. You know what Christmas cards and Chanukah cards look like. When the Roman sent Saturnalia cards to each other, the cards looked like this. The Romans forgot more about partying than we will ever know. Thank God they couldn't drive.

Speaking of which, I complained a year ago that there was no Daria fanfiction featuring Saturnalia, and guess what? It's a year later and there's still no Daria fanfiction featuring Saturnalia. (Paperpusher wrote a story that mentions Saturnalia in passing, but the Morgendorffers aren't celebrating Saturnalia.) How low have we sunk to ignore this vital part of our midwinter holiday tradition? How low, Daria fen? ("Fen" means fans. It's old-timer fannish talk. Just roll with it.) Get on the stick, fanfic writers, and let the good times of Saturnalia rise once again!

Don't You Love Winter?

The special magic of wintertime is everywhere, and everyone's favorite duo is freezing out in an unheated shack in the wilderness. What could be more fun than that?

Richard Lobinske is working on a LATIFA story. The teaser is posted here.

PPMB

• Arrival, by Legendeld (Part 4): “You have to stick to this diet, Quinn.” Jake Morgendorffer said firmly. “And you’re going to stop drinking until it’s not bleeding anymore.”
• Cry for a Shadow, by thatLONERchick (COMPLETE!): “I’m.... kind of... dying. Slightly.”
• Heartless (IC: Evil Jane), by NightGoblyn (continued): This multipart episode is named, "Die, Die My Darling!" for a reason.
  
• Hell on Wheels, by Roxanne M (Part 4): Leo Archer tossed and turned in his bed. The thoughts of the Morgendorffer girl lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk haunted his memory.
• John Lane 38: Yeah, It's Summer, by Richard Lobinske (Part 2): "Note to self, don't piss off your girlfriend."
• Order and Chaos, by Legendeld (Part 15): Jane groaned loudly and dropped to the ground. “You’re a stone bitch.” Quinn nodded. “And you haven’t quit yet.”
• Quinndy-Lou Who, by NightGoblyn (Parts 1, 2, and 3): This certainly didn't start the way I had expected! It also has a horrible horrible thing in Chapter 3, which I encourage you not to read, not ever.
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): Contropolis, Kansas, has been described as a flat, arid two-dimensional form of Hell. As Hells go, it is very respectable.
• Trent's Christmas Gig, by Psychotol (COMPLETE!): Just in time for the holidays!

I did finally finish the update for all 2008 fanfiction on PPMB and SFMB, for your reading pleasure. More soon, just got home.

When in Rome, Party Like the Romans Do

Today is the first day of Saturnalia, the ancient Roman midwinter festival of wackiness, when the low became high and high became low for a week (until December 23rd). That's why Daria gets an emperor's golden wreath today. It is also a day marked in a Daria story having to do with her diary. Do you know that not a single Daria story makes use of Saturnalia? What have we become to have missed this?

This is also Wright Brothers Day, commemorating the 105th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first heavier-than-air powered flight at Kitty Hawk, during which no one served salted peanuts. Thanks to them, Daria and her father got a rare chance to bond on a passenger jet in the episode "Of Human Bonding," but they blew it. Of course.

Wouter offers some Sandi wallpaper for your computer on PPMB. Thank'ee kindly!

Winter Sucks

Just finished shoveling out part of the driveway. Owwwww. Well, it could be worse. I could be lost in a blizzard in the mountains AND be back in high school, and I would never ever go back to high school if I could possibly help it.

Added some German websites about Daria, but the only German pic available was of an Oktoberfest Brittany with beer mugs, which was appropriate enough, but the snowstorm here was a more pressing issue. Thus, we have a wintry Daria and Jane from "Antisocial Climbers" instead.

Over time I am also adding a few more websites to the recommended list at left, mostly active fan-club sites that I'm not sure many people on PPMB have frequented. There seem to be a lot of large, loose Daria groups out there, and encouraging ties between all groups would, IMHO, help the fandom in the long run, so when the show does finally come out on DVD someone will be there to buy it.

And, finally, I am noting more websites in the lists at left as "active," using as a rule of thumb whether topics relevant to Daria have been discussed there on or after January 1, 2008. You are encouraged to visit active websites and chat, shoot the breeze, have some fun, and spread the fun around.

All for now. Party on, ppl!

Still Pretty Darn Cold Outside, Sometimes

Random bits posted late at night when I am too sleepy to do it right:

• At last! Proof that Lawndale is in Maryland after all! But how did the Russians know before we did? Ohmigod!
  
• Iron Chef: Ashley-Amber Morgendorffer, by RLobinske: Many new nasty ideas added here, interesting.
• Iron Chef: Rule 63, by cyde: "Write a story featuring any male member of the cast as a female. The character may have been born that way, or may have his gender changed due to external influences." Hmmm . . .
• The 1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane, by tildessmoo: A special fun writing contest for the whole family! And guess what it's about!

NEW ART ON PPMB

• Daria and Jane: sarcasm-o-thon (Now 3 on 5), by Christ Oliver: Daria and Jane in the nursery! (direct link here).

More soon, including my take on Daria's stupidest moment. Have a good night.

Good Day to Stay Inside

It came to me, looking out the window at the rain and slush and sleet and etc., that the only two episodes of Daria in which the weather got cold were "Antisocial Climbers" and "Fizz Ed," and the latter didn't even have snow.

I had a story idea once about an AU in which Daria and Jane got lost in the blizzard in "Antisocial Climbers" and froze, with Andrea as a paranormal detective looking for signs of the afterlife at the place where they were found, but it never went anywhere. It was kind of a downer. (Duh.)

Maybe someone can do something with an Ice Age story for Daria.